The Reminder
by kenzie.parish
Summary: The story of Inuyasha and Kagomes son, and the consequences of not letting go of his twin who died at birth.


Inuyasha was not prepared for it. But really, what parent is?

He wasn't prepared to hear the little heart stop beating. Not ready to listen to the wailing coming from within the hut, unwilling to inhale the stench of death that slowly crept into the air. And still Kaede refused to let him in to see Kagome. "No, Inuyasha, this is no place for a man! It is against tradition."

"Tradition be damned! Let me in!" Finally he pushes past the old priestess into the hut. The smell of tears, sweat, various birthing fluids, and most alarmingly-death-assaulted his nose. Kagome was sitting up on a pallet, clutching a small white bundle to her chest, rocking and sobbing incoherently. She didn't even look up as Inuyasha dropped to the ground behind her, wrapping his arms around her shaking frame and burying his face in her hair. "Kagome..."

She suddenly sagged into his embrace. "I-I don't know *sob* what went wrong! What I did wrong, this-this is m-my fault! I'm s-so sorry Inuyasha!" Kagome wailed while clutching at his suikan with one hand, the other still stubbornly cradling the still-born child. Inuyasha's face scrunched into a grief filled grimace. He had no words to say to her, nothing to make this better. _It's not your fault, how could this ever be your fault?_ They sat like that for what seemed like an eternity, grieving, neither looking at the others face, silently willing this to all have been a horrible dream.

Inuyasha thought on the first time he had noticed the change in Kagomes scent, how excited he was to tell her, how as time progressed he could smell the development of their children, how he could tell almost imediately that they would soon have two beautiful boys. He rembered all the times he would drop everything to press his ear against her stomach to listen to their heartbeats, feeling his own clench up in inexpressible joy and pride. And now he could only feel a sickening dread, a warped certainty that he would loose both of them. For a few moments he even panicked that he could lose Kagome in some sort of cruel cosmic joke.

Just as Inuyasha was about to give in to despair, he felt Kagomes body snap taut as another round of contractions racked her petite body. Almost in the same moment, Kaede swooped down and took the bundle from her arms and wisked away again, not even bothering to try and get Inuyasha out of the hut. This time, Inuyasha was not leaving her side, and nothing in heaven, hell, or earth would move him from his wife's side.

* * *

After another grueling thirty minutes of labor, all in attendance were rewarded by the cries of a healthy baby boy taking his first breath of a new world. The young couple looked down on their little baby in awe. The dark silver hair topped by obsidian colored dog ears rested on his precious head. Tiny, still soft claws graced his fingertips, and brown eyes, flecked with gold and surrounded by indigo squeezed shut as he bawled out his protests to the world. But Inuyasha and Kagomes joy was tempered and warped by the devistating knowledge that they should have been welcoming _two_ babies, not forced to mourn one and celebrate the other in the same thought.

Ever stubbornly optimistic Kagome spoke. "He's beautiful. I just..." She trailed off, not willing to talk about the all too recent tragedy that had struck their small family.

"Yeah. I know." Inuyasha said softly while gently stroking his sons hair. He knew what she was thinking. _I wish both of them had made it too._ He looked down on his little family, already having to deal with the painful reminder that there should be four of them.

As though she could read his mind, which he suspected she could at times, Kagome whipped her head up to look at Inuyasha. "I'm glad. We'll always have him, as a reminder to be thankful, to help us rember to be glad that at-at least, one of them-" she seems to choke on her words as tears well up in her eyes. "That we have one beautiful child to cherish." She amends.

Inuyasha says nothing as he kisses the top of her head, then buries his face in her neck in an attempt to hide his emotions from her, while once more encircling her,and now their son, in his strong arms. _Reminder, eh? I don't think I could ever forget this kid, my son...Nenoshi._

* * *

 **Let me know what you think! Reviews make for faster chapters, corrections and suggestions are appreciated!**

 _ **LETS GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR ArtisteFish, WHOS STORY, First Born Sons, INSPIRED ME TO MAKE THIS FIC!**_

 **Much love and smushes, until next time my lovelies**

 **Kenzie-chan**


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